JP2023531450A - adapter for earphones - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an adapter (2) that can be releasably connected to an earphone (1) and serves to secure the earphone (1) to the human ear without impairing the sound output of the earphone. In order to secure the adapter to the earphone (1), the shell (5) of the adapter (2) surrounds the spatial region of the earphone (1), and this shell presses against the earphone (1) under pressure. Contact is in the plane and this compressive force is mainly caused by the elastic bending deformation of the shell (5) as a result of contact with the earphone (1).

Description

The present invention relates to adapters for earphones and combinations of earphones and adapters.

An earphone within the meaning of this document is an electrically operated device intended to be secured directly to the outer portion of the human ear in such a way as to project at least into the pinna and capable of producing in a controlled manner a sound intended to be heard clearly by the ear to which the device is secured. Earbuds are typically connected either by cable or radio (i.e. wireless) to a further device, such as a telephone or a device for playing music, and receive information from said device to be played acoustically. A device comprising an earphone may, for example, be a hearing device, i.e. a hearing aid, which serves to compensate for deafness in the ear by amplifying currently incoming sounds from the environment in the relevant frequency range directly in the ear canal. However, the earphone can also be, for example, part of a so-called headset, i.e. a device which, in addition to the loudspeaker, also has a microphone and exchanges information representing sound in the form of electromagnetic signals by cable or wirelessly with a device placed at a distance.

An essential functional aspect of a device with earphones relates to securing the earphones to the human ear. In this regard, the relevant prior art will be discussed here.

EP 1 355 508 B1 presents an earphone and an adapter fixed to this earphone, which adapter has a narrow channel through which the propagation of sound away from the earphone is intended to be restricted from the earphone to the ear canal 1 only. This adapter is made of a rubber-elastic material. The adapter is fixed to the earphone by fitting over the earphone and stretches elastically. As a result of elastically stretching around the earbud, the adapter abuts the earbud under pressure and is held against relative movement with respect to the earbud by frictional engagement. Optionally, the adapter, if used, has a protruding extension that protrudes into the area of the auricle to improve retention on the ear. The retaining action of the adapter on the earbud by elastically stretching is disadvantageous because it does not force a precise fit and because it also causes a rather indeterminate elastic deformation of the adapter material that accompanies installation and removal of the adapter, resulting in rapid fatigue, expansion and tearing of the adapter material. Moreover, a particularly precise attachment of the adapter to the earphone requires a great deal of skill, time and care.

EP 2 566 187 A2 presents an adapter for earphones which, when used as intended, is located at a distance from the entrance to the ear canal and has an extension projecting to the point of the auricle abutting there, resulting in an improved fixation in the auricle. The adapter has a shell-like region that can be placed over the entire area of the earbud with a slight elastic bend, and can be clipped by two clipping projections in place of complementary clipping recesses provided on the earbud. Thus, a form-fitting retention of the adapter on the earphone defined in all six degrees of freedom of possible relative movement between the earphone and the adapter can thus be achieved. Disadvantages are the need for a separate recess in the earphone and the rapid wear and tear resulting from the combination of high surface pressure and friction during installation and removal.

The documents US2018310089A1, US2014119589A1, and US2019261079A1 each show an adapter, such as that according to EP2566187A2, in each case for earphones, which, when used as intended, protrudes to and abuts a certain point on the auricle. have a part. As in the case of the adapter according to EP 1 355 508 B1, in this case the adapter consists of a rubber-elastic material, which in the mounted state is in tension around the earphone and in the process deforms mainly by elastic stretching.

Chinese Utility Model Application No. 206922980U also presents an adapter for earphones for better fixation to the auricle. This adapter is clipped to the earphone so as to be pivotable about an axis, for which purpose two extensions of the adapter, curved in the shape of part of a circle, surround the waist region of the earphone with a clearance fit. The two extensions elastically bend relative to the earphone only during attachment and detachment of the adapter.

US Pat. No. 4,965,838 presents a ring-shaped enclosing means for the circular surface-shaped sound emitting surface of an earphone, which enclosing means serves to focus sound propagation. This enclosing means has a plurality of tongues bent like a hook, and when attached to the adapter, the earphone must be pushed into this tongue via the ring-shaped connection area between the tongues, so that the earphone first reaches the leg of the tongue and then the tip thereof, and the sequence is reversed when it is removed. During mounting and dismounting, this ring-shaped connecting area has to be stretched elastically. This results in a relatively difficult installation process and premature failure of the adapter.

US2005147269A1 presents an earphone and an adapter fixed to the earphone, the adapter having a narrow channel through which the propagation of sound away from the earphone is intended to be restricted from the earphone to the ear canal 1 only. The adapter has a series of short, wide protrusions closed in a ring, which together enclose an area of the earphone in the attached state and abut this enclosed area of the earphone under elastic bending pretension. This protrusion is curved towards the enclosed area and abuts the earphone with maximally linear contact. This linear contact creates a very high surface pressure on the contact surface of the earbud and therefore also quickly causes visible signs of wear and tear.

GB2220819A presents an earphone and an adapter fixed to the earphone. In the mutually fixed state, the disc-shaped region of the earbuds is surrounded by the ring-shaped region of the adapter, which by means of elastically bent short spring tongues rests point-like in grooves in the earbuds provided separately for this purpose. The high surface pressure at the contact point causes immediate damage to the two components when they are fixed or removed, so this design is suitable for repeatedly fixing and removing the earphone and adapter to each other only to a very limited extent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object on which the present invention is based is to provide an earphone with an adapter that is detachably connectable to the earphone and that assists in securing the earphone to the ear. Compared to already known adapters, this new adapter is intended to be better than ever insofar as it has the overall combination of the following advantages.
- Sound propagation away from the earphone is not (appreciably) affected by the adapter.
- The adapter can be attached to the earphone with a simple movement, in the process it simply moves to a precisely defined relative position with respect to the earphone and then remains there.
- The adapter can be removed from the earphone with a simple movement.
- There is no need to provide the earphones with any special geometry intended to improve the retention of the adapter. (ie, retaining grooves, retaining lugs, bayonet connection halves, etc. are not required for earphones).
- Numerous attachment and detachment cycles do not cause any damage to either the adapter or the earphones.

To this end, an adapter design is used (known from EP 2 566 187 A2) with the following characteristics:
- The adapter has a shell-like part which, in the attached state, locally surrounds the surface of the earphone, so that the earphone is held in a form-fitting manner in the adapter, form-fitting in all six degrees of freedom, and the two are prevented from moving relative to each other.
There are multiple contact surface areas between the adapter and the earphone where they abut against each other under mutual pressure, the pressure force being the result of the elastic deformation of the adapter on contact with the earphone.
- No part of the adapter protrudes into the external spatial region of the earphone, from which a connecting line to the sound emitting surface of the earphone is conceivable, extending linearly into the air and intersecting the sound emitting surface at right angles.

In order for the adapter to fulfill the purpose of holding the earphone to the ear in an improved manner, the adapter has a support extension and/or is formed of a material, typically silicone, that has a higher coefficient of friction against human skin in the surface area that abuts the human ear when used as intended.

Optionally, the support extension, when placed attached to the ear, extends between the vicinity of the earphone and a region on the concave side of the auricle, which region is spaced from the ear canal and under pressure as a result of elastic deformation.

As a further development according to the invention the following additional features are proposed.
a The shell-like part of the adapter comprises at least two extensions (further referred to as "retention extensions") and a common connection area of the retention extensions, from which the retention extensions protrude in a peninsula-like manner and abut the earphone face-to-face in the attached state.
b. In the attached state, the retention extension and its connection area firmly hold the spatial region of the earphone from various sides, and in this process are elastically preloaded, mainly by bending stress, in the direction away from the center of the firmly held spatial region, relative to the orientation in the elastically relaxed state.
c. During mounting and removal of the adapter, the holding extension is elastically bent temporarily with greater strength away from the center of the space area to be held firmly by coming into contact with the space area to be held firmly.

The invention includes advantageous additional features and will be illustrated and discussed in more detail on the basis of the drawings of exemplary embodiments.

The left part shows the first combination according to the invention of the earphone according to the invention and the adapter in a mutually detached state, and the right part shows said combination in the assembled state. The left part shows the second combination according to the invention of the earphone according to the invention and the adapter in a mutually detached state, and the right part shows said combination in the assembled state. The upper part shows the third combination according to the invention of the earphone according to the invention and the adapter in the mutually detached state, and the lower part shows said combination in the assembled state. Figure 4 shows an adapter according to the invention alone for a fourth combination according to the invention; 2 shows a variant of the adapter according to the invention in FIG. 1, formed from two individual parts detachably connectable to each other, in an exploded view (at the top) and in the assembled state (at the bottom);

In the various examples, parts having similar functions are indicated by the same item number in each case.

As in FIG. 1, the illustrated combination according to the invention consists of an earphone 1 and an adapter 2 in each case. Earphone 1 has a sound emitting surface 3 and a plurality of sensor surfaces 4 .

The adapter 2 has a shell-like portion 5 from the outside of which a support extension 6 projects. The shell-like portion 5 comprises a plurality of retaining extensions 7 and connecting areas 8 connecting said retaining extensions, the transitions between said retaining extensions 7 and connecting areas 8 being typically smooth.

In the attached state, the shell-like portion 5 of the adapter 2 encloses the spatial area of the earphone 1 from various sides, so that the earphone 1 is held in a form-fitting manner. Here, the holding extension 7 abuts the earphone 1 as a surface, specifically a dome-shaped surface that is convex outward. Here, the shell 5 is not elastically relaxed, but rather slightly bent relative to its relaxed position, so that in particular the retaining arms are pushed slightly further away from the center of the enclosed space relative to the position in which the shell 5 is relaxed. This means that, as a result of abutting on the earphone 1, the retaining extension 7 is bent slightly away from the enclosed area. As a result of the elastic restoring force induced in this way, the retaining extension 7 abuts on the earphone 1 in a precisely pre-determined position under pressure and thus without play. Relative movement between the earphone 1 and the adapter 2 from said default position will result in an increased elastic deformation of the shell-like portion 5 over the first region, thus providing a restoring force, whereby, in the absence of other influences, the earphone 1 and the adapter 2 will slide relative to each other and return to their default ideal position relative to each other.

Ideally, this retaining extension 7 abuts the earphone 1 in the installed state and is shaped to firmly abut the earphone 1 when it is bent upwards slightly by the earphone 1 . This then means that at least most of its surface facing the earphone 1 has the same shape and dimensions as the surface area of the earphone 1 facing it. As a result of the thus achieved abutment of the retaining extension 7 against the adapter 2, the surface pressure, i.e. the force per unit area, at the interface between the retaining extension 7 and the surface of the adapter 2 is relatively low. There is therefore no risk of injury. However, there is advantageously a large amount of stiction as a result of the large contact surface.

In order to attach the adapter 2 to the earphone 1, the two of the adapter 2 and the earphone 1 are moved towards each other so that the end of the retaining extension facing away from the connection area 8 first reaches the area of the enclosed space of the earphone 1, then slides over the surface of said area, spreading apart slightly in the process, and finally closing again over said area until it firmly abuts the surface of the area of the surrounding area of the adapter 2.

The fact that the retention extension 7 abuts the convex or outwardly directed domed surface area of the adapter 1 means that the relative movement between the adapter 2 and the earphone 1 required for connection and disconnection of the adapter 2 to and from the earphone 1 makes it easy to achieve having to bend said retention extension only slightly from its relaxed position compared to being in the mounted state. This allows the mounting and dismounting process to be performed without applying great force, reducing the risk of being damaged by said process.

When it comes into contact with the earphone 1, the shell-like portion 5 of the adapter 2 undergoes elastic deformation. In this case, the shell-like portion 5 is dimensioned such that said deformation is predominantly bending and not predominantly strain loading as is the case, for example, with prior art adapters made of silicone-like material. By configuring the required elastic deformation of the shell-like portion 5 as bending, the direction in which the elastic deformation of the retaining extension 7, specifically its outward bending, is achieved can be defined very precisely. Therefore, when connecting the adapter 2 and the earphone 1, it can be easily achieved that these two parts slide relative to each other into and remain in a single, precisely defined and stable relative position.

Thus, it is equally easy to achieve, and is desired here, that no covering by any part of the adapter 2 is achieved under any circumstances on the surface area of the earphone 1 . This may in particular also relate to the sound emitting surface 3, the possibly provided sensor surface 4 and/or the additional sound emitting openings and the surface area on or under which the antenna is located.

Optional support extensions 6, possibly improving the retention action on the ears, can be formed and function in the same manner as in prior art designs. It usually consists of a soft elastic material that has a high frictional force against human skin, for example silicone. When used as intended, it projects as its free end into a concave area of the auricle clearly spaced from the auditory canal.

The shell 5 and the support extension 6 are made of different materials, the material of the support extension 6 preferably having a lower modulus of elasticity than the material of the shell 5 .

According to a further advantageous development, the shell 5 has a surface layer on its outside, the material of which has a lower modulus of elasticity than the material of the shell 5 lying underneath. More preferably, the material of said surface layer has a higher coefficient of friction against human skin than the material of the underlying shell-like portion 5 .

According to a further advantageous development, the shell 5 has, at least locally on its intended contact surface with the earphone 1, a surface coating which is elastically relatively soft and/or has a higher coefficient of friction with respect to the surface of the earphone 1 than the material of the shell 5 covered by said coating.

According to a further advantageous development, the support extension 6 and the outer coating of the shell-like part 5 consist of mutually identical material, and the support extension 6 and said coating are produced in a joint manufacturing process.

According to a further advantageous development, the material of the support extension 6 extends locally on the side of the shell-like portion 5 intended to rest on the earphone 1, so that said material also comes to rest directly on the earphone 1. For example, for this purpose it is possible to provide a passage opening in the shell-like part 5, through which the material of the support extension 6 extends. In this case, the support extension 6 and the material extending inside the shell-like portion 5 may be added and shaped in a joint manufacturing step. This design makes it possible to improve the holding stability of the adapter 2 to the earphone 1 without making the desired attachment and detachment more difficult.

At least one of the retaining extensions 7 is preferably longer than its width. It is even more preferable for every retaining extension 7 to do so. That is, the length of the (virtual) boundary line between the retaining extension 7 and the connection area 8 is less than the distance of said boundary line from the free end of this retaining extension. Compared to a relatively non-elongated embodiment of the retaining extension 7, such a relatively large deformation distance can be achieved for equal elastic stresses of the material, and thus the desired degree of elastic deformability can be achieved more easily.

In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 4, the shell-shaped portion 5 of the adapter 2 is fitted with a planar permanent magnet 9 . This is intended to interact with the ferromagnetic part or magnetic field of the coil in the earphone 1, thus making it possible to achieve an additional (possibly even switchable) holding action between the earphone 1 and the adapter 2.

In the exemplary embodiment of the adapter 2 according to the invention in FIG. 5, the shell-like part 5 and the support extension 6 are detachably connected to each other. In the illustrated example of the detachable connection, from the surface 10 of the support extension 6, which in the intended mounting state abuts against the outer surface of the shell 5, a waist-shaped connection extension 11 projects for this purpose, the shell 5 having an opening 12 in the surface area that comes into contact with the support extension 6. In the connected state, the connecting extension 11 projects from the outside through the opening 12 into the space enclosed by the shell-like portion 5 , the outer surface of the opening 12 abutting the constricted area of the connecting extension 11 .

The process of creating the connection between the shell 5 and the support extension 6 may be realized in several ways and the details of the components to be connected may be specified to be optimized in an adaptive way. Said details can be easily defined by a person skilled in the art in the course of his routine professional activities and for this reason no further explanation is given here. Although no claims can be made for completeness, reference should be made to examples of connection variants.
- the free end region of the connecting extension 11, which widens with respect to the constricted region, is pushed into the opening 12 with simultaneous deformation;
- the support extension 6, with its free end region at the front, is pulled through the opening 12, except for the connecting extension 11, and is temporarily deformed in the end region located on the connecting extension 11;
- the cross-sectional shape of the free end region of the connecting extension 11 is very different from the shape of a circle; The cross-sectional areas of the openings 12 in the shell-like portion 5 have at least approximately the same shape and size for this purpose. For connection, the free end region of the connection extension 11 is pivoted relative to the shell-like portion 5 in a suitable manner so that it can be easily inserted through the opening 12 . It is preferably inserted through the opening 12 and then pivoted parallel to its cross-section so that the longitudinal directions of the cross-sectional areas of the connecting extension 11 and the opening 12 are no longer parallel to each other and then they are at right angles to each other.
- the outer surface of the opening 12 is not ring-closed, but has an open side like the shoreline of a bay, thus constituting an enclosure formation open on one side. In order to fix the support extension 6 to the shell-like part 5, the waisted area of the connecting extension 11 is pushed into the opening 12 through the open side of the outer surface of the opening 12, i.e. the open side parallel to the area of the opening 12 and not perpendicular thereto.

The fact that the support extension 6, and thus also its connection extension 11, is preferably made of a soft elastic material, typically silicone, means that the connection methods mentioned and the readily conceivable methods that complement each other for releasing the connection are also easily realized.

The design with the detachable connecting extension 6, which has been considered in particular on the basis of FIG. 5, compared with the previously considered designs of the adapter 2, offers the advantage that it is possible to choose between mutually different designs of the supporting extension 6, and that the soft elastic material of the connecting extension 11, which preferably has a relatively high coefficient of friction compared to the material of the shell-like part 5, also abuts the earphone 1 when the adapter 2 shown in FIG. 1 and the earphone 1 are connected as intended. The stiction between the material of the connecting extension 11 and the outer surface of the earphone 1 improves the stiction between the adapter 2 and the earphone 1 . Due to this additional static friction, it is possible to make do by lowering the elastic bending pretension of the retaining extension 7 .

Claims (12)

An adapter (2) removably connected to an earphone (1), having a support extension (6) extending between the vicinity of said earphone (1) and an area on the concave side of the auricle when used as intended, in that this area is spaced from the ear canal and/or in the surface area that abuts the human ear when said adapter (2) is used as intended, more friction against human skin than the surface material of said earphone (1). In that it has a high modulus material, it helps to fix the earphone (1) on the human ear,
- said adapter (2) has a shell-like part (5) that locally surrounds the surface of said earphone (1) in the attached state and thus retains said adapter (2) in a form-fitting manner against any relative movement with respect to said earphone (1);
- said adapter (2) and said earphone (1) abut under mutual pressure at a plurality of contact surface areas, said pressure forces being the result of elastic deformation of said adapter (2) upon contact with said earphone (1);
- no part of said adapter (2) protrudes into the outer spatial region of said earphone (1), from which a line of connection to said sound emitting surface of said earphone is conceivable, extending linearly into the air and intersecting said sound emitting surface at right angles,
- said shell-like portion (5) of said adapter (2) comprises at least two retaining extensions (7) and a connecting area (8) connecting said retaining extensions, said retaining extensions (7) protruding peninsula-like from said connecting area (8) and abutting said earphone (1) as a surface,
- said retaining extension (7) and its connection area (8) hold the spatial area of said earphone (1) firmly from various sides, in the process being elastically preloaded, mainly by bending stresses, against the orientation in the elastically relaxed state, away from the center of said firmly held spatial area;
- an adapter (2), wherein, on mounting and dismounting of said adapter, said retaining extension (7) abuts against said spatial area of said adapter (2) to be held, thereby being elastically bent temporarily and with greater strength in a direction away from said center of said firmly held spatial area. Adapter (2) according to claim 1, characterized in that the retaining extension (7) directly abuts the earphone (1) over more than 20% of its surface facing the earphone (1). 3. Adapter (2) according to claim 2, characterized in that the contact surface between the retaining extension (7) and the earphone (1) is convex domed. Adapter (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adapter (2) has a support extension (6), the shell (5) and the support extension (6) being of different materials, the material of the support extension (6) having a lower modulus of elasticity than the material of the shell (5). Adapter (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said shell (5) has a surface layer on its outside, the modulus of elasticity of the material of which is lower than that of said material of said shell (5) lying underneath. Adapter (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said shell (5) has a surface layer on its outside, the coefficient of friction of which against human skin is higher than the coefficient of friction of said material of said shell (5) lying underneath. Adapter (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shell (5) has, at least locally, a surface coating on its surface in contact with the earphone (1), the material of this surface coating having a lower modulus of elasticity and/or a higher coefficient of friction with respect to the surface of the earphone (1) than the material of the shell (5) covered by the surface coating. Adapter (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adapter (2) has a support extension (6), the support extension (6) and the outer coating of the shell (5) are of the same material as each other, and the support extension (6) and the outer coating of the shell (5) are produced in a joint manufacturing process. Adapter (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of said retaining extensions (7) is longer than its width. Adapter (2) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a permanent magnet (9) is attached to the shell-like portion (5) of the adapter (2). Claim 8, characterized in that the adapter (2) has a support extension (6) that can be detachably connected to the shell (5), wherein in the connected state a waist-shaped connection extension (11) of the support extension (6) projects through an opening (12) of the shell (5), the outer surface (12) of the opening (12) abutting the waist region of the connection extension (11). An adapter (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, except A combination of an earphone (1) and an adapter (2) according to any one of claims 1 to 11 removably connected thereto.

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